Welcome back, Paul and Ernie!

Many in the campus community have happily noted the return of Facilities staff members Paul North and Ernie Taylor. It's rare that we share the details of individual grievances with the entire campus. Usually the grievants prefer to remain private, and the union has no wish to embarrass the administration. But Paul and Ernie are so widely known throughout the campus, they have been the target of so many rumors for so long, they've been subjected to such extreme foolishness and vindictiveness on the part of the administration, that we feel the need to inform our members of this unbelievable travesty.

A VICTORY FOR WOMEN'S RIGHTS

Over two years ago, one of our members - Mila Margul - the only woman in her area learned that she was making a lower salary for performing the same work as her three male colleagues. In a recent meeting with the union and administration, Mila got word that her salary would be raised. She sent the union the following statement.

I want to announce a significant victory in the struggle for women's rights. With the great help and support from the Union, I have been able to get the acknowledgement from the University's administration that for more than two years I have been performing the same type of job as my three male co-workers, but their salaries were all higher than mine. I have recently been told that I will finally get the salary raise to match at least one of those co-workers.

I want to say that I would never have accomplished it without the constant encouragement and support from the Union.

One of the things we bargained back in our last round of negotiations was the reinstatement of Professional Development funds for PSU members. Over 50% of our membership applied for and received professional development money. The requests for funds ran the gamut from laptops to laminators and illustrated the range of interests and talents of our membership. Here's a sample:

Instructional Design course

Literacy development materials

Early Childhood courses

Fourth World Movement conference

Business Writing course

Materials for long-distance ocean vehicle

Cataloging & Metadata Course

Develop a fluorometer

Educause Conference

Coastal Society Conference

Google Conference

Microsoft Certification

Network Training course

Chinese language course

Composition & Communication conference

Service Learning/Community Engagement conference

Welding course

Digital Government Research conference

Hazardous Waste conference

SAS Books and training

Produce video: Science at Sea